Notes & Pics: Rhapsody of the Seas – Greece & Croatia – 6/23/2018

Overall, a fantastic trip on a great ship to amazing destinations. I highly recommend.

SHIP: Rhapsody was well maintained and I love the layout. Public areas were constantly being cleaned.

CABIN: We had cabin 7576, a balcony cabin just forward of the Centrum on the starboard side. It was in good shape and always kept clean. Some wear and tear, but nothing extreme.

SERVICE: Staff was top notch. Cabin steward was very nice and always asked how our day was, if we were enjoying everything, etc. Our waiter was nice and delivered our food promptly, but was less than personable. We talked to the waitress in the section next to us more often than our own waiter. On the other hand, our assistant waitress from China was amazing. She needs to move up the ladder sooner rather than later. Always smiling, asking how our day was, joking with us, etc. Breadbaskets are now delivered to every table in the MDR, and on our first night I asked our assistant waitress if they had any of the cheese rolls. They weren’t available that night, but on every night thereafter, a plate of cheese rolls was waiting on our table when we arrived. Head waiter was very nice, always stopped by to check on us and chat. Everyone else we encountered in the bars, Windjammer, and other areas were always smiling and offered great service.

Cruise director Tim Connor was great, as was Activities Manager Eric and the entire activities staff.

Captain Tobias was very visible and interesting.

MDR: The MDR experience has definitely changed a lot. Nothing at all to complain about, except I did not like ordering dessert at the beginning of the meal. Sometimes this resulted in waste. We were always finished in 75-90 minutes. The new menus were good. For the most part, we enjoyed everything we ate.

Random thoughts:

Top tier party was enjoyable and included Platinum and above. We were told 12.8 million C&A members worldwide. 612 out of the 2339 people on this cruise were members.

No ship models in the logo shop. I collect them, so now I have to figure out where to get one. None on eBay at the moment.

Lots of medical issues this cruise.

I’m beginning to have a hard time spending more than 4-5 nights on a Vision Class ship. We did a 4 night Bahamas cruise on Enchantment last year and thoroughly enjoyed the activities that went on. On this 7 night cruise on Rhapsody, we often found ourselves struggling for something to do. Won’t rule the Vision Class out for future cruises, but something worth considering.

Disembarkation was a bit of a mess. We booked our transfer to the airport through Royal Caribbean. The guests services officer told us meeting time was 8am in the Shall We Dance Lounge. Turns out the actual shuttle was at 8am. We show up, and if we didn’t ask the crew member back there, we wouldn’t have known we needed to rush down to catch the shuttle, as the group had already left. The shuttles coincide with the luggage tag number that you are given when you book. Once into the terminal, only one of our bags was in the tag 11 section. After about 10 minutes of looking, we found it in a totally different section of the terminal. Then, our names were not on the list for the tag 11 shuttle. Luckily, we had the tags on our bags and the receipt, so they let us on. The airport shuttle is overpriced, coming in at $34 per person. Bit of a rocky ending to a great of the cruise.

PORTS coming in post #2.

PORTS:

VENICE: We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise in Venice at the LaGare Hotel Venezia, which is located on the island of Murano. Hotel was beautiful, staff was great, and we got upgraded from a superior room to an executive loft room. The hotel also provided a complementary private water taxi from the airport. We loved the location, as it was out of the hustle and bustle of Venice, but still easily accessible via the ACTV waterbuses, with the Murano Museo stop just in front of the hotel. We purchased 48 hour waterbus passes from a shop just down from the hotel, which allowed easy access to the main sights in Venice (via the 4.1 and 4.2 lines), as well as the cruise terminal on boarding day (via the 3 line). The area around Piazza San Marco and Rialto is very touristy and busy. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful and must-see, but be prepared for crowds and large tour groups, especially in the mid-summer months. We actually preferred hanging out and eating on Murano.

Getting to the ship was uneventful. We took the waterbus 3 line, which goes directly from Murano to Piazzale Roma. From there, we had to walk to the People Mover, which costs €1,50 per person and takes you to the cruise terminals. Be aware that there is still a decent walk from the People Mover station to the cruise terminals. We got to the terminal around 11am and there were no lines at all. Less than 15 minutes from luggage drop to ship.

DUBROVNIK, CROATIA: Dubrovnik was as beautiful as expected. We ended up booking the roundtrip Royal Caribbean shuttle to the old town for $12 per person. We were able to sign up on the pier after leaving the ship. Once in the old town, we bought our tickets (I cannot recall the price) and walked the walls around the perimeter of the old town. The views were absolutely breathtaking. I witnessed an older woman fall, requiring medics. I also fell down a set of steps, landing directly on my phone in my back pocket, cracking the screen and bending it at about a 5-10 degree angle. I’m glad my phone was there, as I can imagine some broken bones if it wasn’t. So, my advice: use extreme caution, and get on the walls early to avoid crowds. Keep in mind, Croatia’s currency is the Kuna. ATMs were plentiful. The rest of our day included DIY exploring, eating, and shopping.

KOTOR, MONTENEGRO: Next up was Kotor, which was lovely. We walked the path/steps up to the church on the mountain. I believe the entrance fee is something like €8 per person. We could’ve gone further to the fortress, but we decided we were high enough. Bear in mind, the street leading to the start of the steps is steep and slippery. We were afraid this was a sampling of what was to come and based on my fall yesterday, we were a bit apprehensive, but the steps ended up being safe and secure. Use of caution is still necessary though. The rest of the day was spent exploring the old town. Go early to avoid crowds, lowering the amount of times you will have to pass people going in the opposite direction on the thin set of steps.

SANTORINI, GREECE: Santorini was our favorite. The ship arrived at 7am and we were off by 8. We booked the boat to Oia excursion on the pier. This included a 20-25 minute boat ride to the pier below Oia from where the tenders drop you, a short bus ride up to Oia, and then a bus ride back to Fira. From there, you were on your own getting back down to the tender area via a cable car or walking path. The buses back from Oia to Fira were offered at 11am, 12noon, 1pm, and 2pm. I read horror stories about the cable car waits in Fira, so we budgeted lots of extra time to make our way down on the cable car. I also read some negative feedback of the walking path as well. Anyway, we were in Oia by 9am and it was very peaceful and pristine at this time. Get there early!!! It was packed by 11. Oia was beautiful and picture perfect, but much better before the crowds arrived. I’d like to return to stay for a week.

On a side note, I wish the company that we booked the boat/bus with offered a boat back from Oia to the tender area, eliminating the need to go to Fira at all. I much rather would’ve spent the entire day in Oia.

KATAKOLON, GREECE: Our last port was Katakolon. The main attraction here was Olympia, which we visited with Royal’s Olympia on Your Own excursion. I believe it was $31 pre-cruise and included transfers to and from Olympia, as well as a surprise stop for a quick olive oil tasting on the way back. Entrance fee to the archeological site was not included. It costs $12, and also includes entrance to two museums. The ruins were very interesting and I’m glad we saw them. We didn’t get to explore the towns of Olympia or Katakolon, although their seemed to be lots of nice restaurants right by the piers.

Overall, a great cruise to amazing, bucket-list destinations.

Some photos will be coming soon.

Please feel free to ask any questions!

VENICE:

VENICE SAILAWAY:

DUBROVNIK:

PORTS:

 

VENICE: We stayed 2 nights pre-cruise in Venice at the LaGare Hotel Venezia, which is located on the island of Murano. Hotel was beautiful, staff was great, and we got upgraded from a superior room to an executive loft room. The hotel also provided a complementary private water taxi from the airport. We loved the location, as it was out of the hustle and bustle of Venice, but still easily accessible via the ACTV waterbuses, with the Murano Museo stop just in front of the hotel. We purchased 48 hour waterbus passes from a shop just down from the hotel, which allowed easy access to the main sights in Venice (via the 4.1 and 4.2 lines), as well as the cruise terminal on boarding day (via the 3 line). The area around Piazza San Marco and Rialto is very touristy and busy. Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful and must-see, but be prepared for crowds and large tour groups, especially in the mid-summer months. We actually preferred hanging out and eating on Murano.

 

Great review! We did Rhapsody in 2015 from Rome through the Greek Islands. I am a retired airline pilot and was flying standby to Rome. Well, the flights booked up so we had to look at alternatives. We found seats to Venice. I have been there before, and always wanted to see Murano. So after finding the absurd costs of hotels in Venice, my wife found the Le Gare. I quickly booked and also booked their free airport shuttle boat. That is about a $200 benefit as a private boat would cost that much! Anyway, since we were leaving the day after we found them, I suddenly realized they asked for 10 advance notice for pickup from airport. So I called them. They told me they were actually in the process of sending my voucher for pickup and the boat would be there! Needless to say, we had a completely fantastic stay at Le Gare and in Murano! We spent one day in Venice and decided it was to crowded so we wandered Murano, visited the glass museum (must see), some glass foundries, etc. Evenings in Murano were magical since the crowds all left around 4 pm...

Anyway. Thanks for the review! One request... DON'T TELL PEOPLE ABOUT LE GARE! We need to keep that wonderful place secret so it never overcrowds, etc. Keep it for the very lucky few of us who are able to find it. ;p

Great review! We did Rhapsody in 2015 from Rome through the Greek Islands. I am a retired airline pilot and was flying standby to Rome. Well, the flights booked up so we had to look at alternatives. We found seats to Venice. I have been there before, and always wanted to see Murano. So after finding the absurd costs of hotels in Venice, my wife found the Le Gare. I quickly booked and also booked their free airport shuttle boat. That is about a $200 benefit as a private boat would cost that much! Anyway, since we were leaving the day after we found them, I suddenly realized they asked for 10 advance notice for pickup from airport. So I called them. They told me they were actually in the process of sending my voucher for pickup and the boat would be there! Needless to say, we had a completely fantastic stay at Le Gare and in Murano! We spent one day in Venice and decided it was to crowded so we wandered Murano, visited the glass museum (must see), some glass foundries, etc. Evenings in Murano were magical since the crowds all left around 4 pm...

Anyway. Thanks for the review! One request... DON'T TELL PEOPLE ABOUT LE GARE! We need to keep that wonderful place secret so it never overcrowds, etc. Keep it for the very lucky few of us who are able to find it. ;p

Thanks!

I'll make sure to leave LaGare out of all future conversations about my trip ;p

KOTOR:

SANTORINI:

KATAKOLON / OLYMPIA:

And that's the last of my photos that I'm going to post. Thanks for reading/viewing! Hope you enjoyed :)

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise.

And thank you for following along!

Thanks!

 

 

 

I'll make sure to leave LaGare out of all future conversations about my trip ;p

^^ lol yes please! Have stayed there twice and it is a hidden gem!

Am going on Rhapsody in December so thanks for the review. Fabulous photos too.

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Your photos are incredible!!!

^^ lol yes please! Have stayed there twice and it is a hidden gem!

 

Am going on Rhapsody in December so thanks for the review. Fabulous photos too.

 

 

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Your photos are incredible!!!

Thank you both very much!

beautiful photos! Venice is one of my favorite places I have ever been and I really want to go back!

Thanks so much for posting!

I’m sailing in September, so loving everything about Rhapsody I can find (only share one port with you though).

I found your comments particularly interesting about the Royal transfer to the airport. Can you tell me if you were able to get them on board? No place to get them online, and I hate calling in if I don’t have to (traveling solo, so price is decent for me. Could do public transportation, but I don’t want to bother on last day.)

Thank you!!

beautiful photos! Venice is one of my favorite places I have ever been and I really want to go back!

Thank you :)

Thanks so much for posting!

 

I’m sailing in September, so loving everything about Rhapsody I can find (only share one port with you though).

 

I found your comments particularly interesting about the Royal transfer to the airport. Can you tell me if you were able to get them on board? No place to get them online, and I hate calling in if I don’t have to (traveling solo, so price is decent for me. Could do public transportation, but I don’t want to bother on last day.)

 

Thank you!!

We booked the shuttle onboard. Information was in the compass and we had to go to guest services to book. The shuttles were offered at several different times.

With that said, I did call them pre-cruise, but was told the shuttle was full and I would be put on a waitlist. Never did hear any follow-up to that inquiry.

Thanks for the review and great pictures. We will be stopping in all of those ports in November.

Thanks for taking the time to review and post the gorgeous photos. Our sailing

includes Santorini. Do you remember the price of the boat excursion to Oia you purchased on the pier? What kind of boat? Thanks!

Thanks for the review and great pictures. We will be stopping in all of those ports in November.

Have an amazing time. They really are bucket list ports.

Thanks for taking the time to review and post the gorgeous photos. Our sailing

 

 

in a few weeks

includes Santorini. Do you remember the price of the boat excursion to Oia you purchased on the pier? What kind of boat? Thanks!

It was €15 per person. Regarding the boat, it was a decent size. Two levels of seats, the top open air, the bottom covered.

Have an amazing time. They really are bucket list ports.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

It was €15 per person. Regarding the boat, it was a decent size. Two levels of seats, the top open air, the bottom covered.

Thanks much!

We did this cruise last year, and absolutely loved it

Great review!

We did a B2B on Rhapsody last month and had a fabulous cruise both weeks. :D

Thanks so much for posting!

 

I’m sailing in September, so loving everything about Rhapsody I can find (only share one port with you though).

 

I found your comments particularly interesting about the Royal transfer to the airport. Can you tell me if you were able to get them on board? No place to get them online, and I hate calling in if I don’t have to (traveling solo, so price is decent for me. Could do public transportation, but I don’t want to bother on last day.)

 

 

Thank you!!

We were on Rhapsody last month and took a private airport transfer through Suntransfers.com back to the airport, Driver met us as we got off the ship and away we went. Very easy. Wasn't cheap but, worth it to us. 60.00 EUR